In 1916, Nebraska voters asked for and received a prohibition amendment to the Nebraska State Constitution. Prohibition outlawed the sale and production of alcoholic beverages. Enforcement of the prohibition in Nebraska began on May 1,1917. Grand Island photographer Julius Leschinsky captured this large crowd of men gathered outside of Johnson's Saloon (107 E. 3rd Street) on April 30, 1917, the night before all saloons in Nebraska "officially" closed. No one, except maybe the dog, appears very happy.

The United States Congress ratified the 18th Amendment nationalizing prohibition in January 1919. Instead of uplifting the morality of the poor as reformers has hoped, prohibition gave birth to bootlegged liquor, speak-easies, and gangsters. Prohibition was repealed in 1933.

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